33 Simple Years - 33 Simple Acts

Mike turned 33 on the 3rd of this month.

We got to celebrate all week. 1st the best cake I've ever made. Super chocolaty with PB cups baked inside and layered on top from Bakerella Grandpa's house the Sunday before the big day:

2nd: Breakfast for Champions: How sweet is this toaster? I got it on NBA.com You can get your favorite team. It burns the logo right into the toast. Hendrix loves it just as much as Mike.

3rd: Cold Stone on his birthday, that our nephew Bren made.

To make the week special we did 33 acts of service/kindness. Here's our list...

(1) Donate Blood

(2) Give gatorade to someone in need on the street

(3) Gather items and donate to Goodwill

(4) Surprise someone at work and bring them a treat

(5) Take the kids to the movies

(6) Bring a treat to someone on their birthday

(7) Buy the Ensign for a family who doesn't get it

(8) Send a random e-card to a friend

(9) Decide to only buy cage-free eggs and organic milk from here on out

(10) Donate money to Children's Cancer Research
(11) Send a compliment to convience store management about an employee who gave great service

(12) Leave comments on friends blog who we don't get to see often

(13) Helped a neighbor move

(14) Watched friends kids so they could have a date

(15) Gather all the grocery carts in a parking lot and put them away

(16) Bought new flowers and put them on Mom Britt's grave
(17) Brought candy and flowers to the Bishopric and their wives to thank them for all their service

(18) Open the door for someone

(19) Pay a compliment to a complete stranger

(20) Put quarters in pay phones and water dispensers

(21) Say "hello" to someone you don't know

(22) Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru

(23) Send a note to someone who influenced your life

(24) Leave a generous tip (50% min) for great service at a restaurant

(25) Write a thank-you to someone serving in the ward

(26) Pray for someone in need

(27) Have the missionaries over for dinner

(28) Cleaned the house on his day off for his happy wife

(29) Served in the temple cafeteria

(30) Send pictures of the kids to family living far away

(31) Bring cupcakes to work

(32) Make and send cards to family serving in the army

(33)Helped a friend's family move

We hope this list inspires you to do some random acts of kindness for your friends, family, the earth, animals and strangers. It's made a difference in our lives already. Mike even did more than just this list and both of our eyes have been opened to other acts of service to be done.

My favorite ones were bringing small gifts to the Bishopric (the husbands were amazed we knew their favorite candy...but I had called their wives prior to find out, and so it was cute.) I also thought it was fun to run around the parking lot with the kids getting the grocery carts and putting them away, we had lots of people looking at us, maybe they'll think how nice it would be to simply put even their own cart away next time. :) It always feels good to give customer service people compliments to their mangement. People are always quick to complain to managers (us too sometimes). Why not let them know the good things their company's doing?!

Mike's favorite were:

The drive thru T.Bell purchase for the car behind us was Mike's favorite of them all. However, they were all good ones for him to do (his idea's for a few, so go figure)...but the real fun was had in coming home each day after doing some of them & marking them off the list; then sharing stories of how it went & how it was to do them.

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Happy Birthday to you Mike, and...when you can help the chances present themselves: Pay it forward people!

Mountain Memories...

The kids and I spent two weeks in WA with my family, my Mom, Grandma and Aunt all live on a beautiful mountain, which is referred to as just that "The Mountain" There is always family, friends and neighbors around so there is no lack of company. Infact they leave their doors unlocked so even if no one's home, it's not uncommon to borrow a couple eggs, a jar of homemade pickles or use their basement to workout in (all things I did while there) It's also common to leave your keys in the car incase someone is in need of your extra car. (just bring it back with gas in it) I love that everyone up there treats one another as family if they are or not.

This is my Grandma's yard which is where we spent most of our time. We had a portable pool and slip and slide that my kids promptly took off all their clothes and ran free and naked in the cool weather. I think they were just excited to be outside. When I lived here as a child this area was all dirt, but we had just as much fun running and chasing one another. As a teenager this house was my home away from home over the summers. I was deeply in love with Washington and it was wonderful to make new memories with my kids.

This is one of my favorite areas, the path leading away from my G-ma's house to the mom's.

The Clayton Burger where Uncle Adam took us out for homemade huckleberry ice cream - Yum! It was a soft pink color and delicious. As a youth my cousin Josh and I would ride horses down the railroad tracks and meet friends here.

The kids were excited to meet new cousins and had so much fun. Lemonie was a joy. So sweet with her chubby cheeks. She's smiles and lights up everything. MilaBelle loved having a baby around. And it was the first time all my mom's grandkids were together.

This is my cousin Josh's little girl Carly. Mila and her are only 3 months apart and our oldest boys are just 1 month apart. Hendrix had tons of fun playing in the dirt with Jakob.

The only negative for little ones, were having legs that ran faster than their bodies. We had mulitple days of scratched knees and our share of brusies.

In MilaBelle's words her favorite things about Oma's house are

"Dress-up, round toast with cheese, I like Oma."

In Hendrix words "I like marble works, trees, bugs, round toast with butter, not cheese and the sandwhich's Oma makes me."

I can also say that they loved the tire swing and being free to roam. For the first couple of days I was always worried where they were, when finally my mom told me to relax they were either at Aunt's, G-ma's or somewhere in between. I could walk outside and hear their voices and holler for them to come back whenever I needed. And if they were bothering anyone they'd be sent home. It's a wonderful niche my family has created for themselves, away from busy streets, and strangers. I look forward to next summer and staying longer.

Hendrix is always showing MilaBelle something; whether it's how to put on her shoes, where the toys go, how to fill the bathroom sink with water and sit in it or how to look left then right when you cross the street; he is a great big brother. He makes her laugh more often then he makes her cry and they are such good friends.

These brilliant, vibrant pictures were taken by our talented friend MarryJordanPhotography. She captured our kids just as we see them...

Sometimes Sweet,

Sometimes Silly

Crazy LOUD!

PLAYFUL,

Beautiful (check out those baby blues)

Sensitive and Soulful,

Growing quickly and Handsome as ever,

Energetic, and spirited...

And oh, so loving! Thank you Mary!

Hendrix was in heaven while we went camping over Memorial Weekend. He could play with sticks, rocks, dirt and water all day everyday.

MilaBelle pretending to be a 'mommy' lounging on the deck.
A few photos around the Mesa Art Center waiting for our photography to take some candids of the kiddos.

Professional shot: More to come...

March Moments

MilaBelle as 'Hulk'She's super into puzzles


Hendrix is addicted to computer games. It's better than T.V. I guess, at least he's learning something on pbskids.org

MilaBelle got a new bed, it took her a few nights to get used to it, she kept getting out and falling asleep on the floor, but is well adjusted as you can see.

Mike broke his hand playing basketball and missed out on the Stake Basketball tournament finals but Peralta Ward luckily won without him. We're 4 year champions. He's healing great, and only had the cast for 3 weeks.

March 17th we had a 'green things' dinner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We had homemade avacoda dip, fresh steamed broccoli, asparagus and zucchini, which the kids loved. A yummy green spiral pasta salad with green olives and basil feta. We love to go green around here.

A few things I love

When the days are long and weeks are longer, I like to find something to look forward to, sometimes it's a Sunday nap or a hug from my husband, but today I got to do a few things I love and wanted to share with the rest of you.

#1: Lunch by myself - I don't often do this, mostly because I am never alone, NEVER! But today I got off work at 1:30pm and went to souper salad, sat by myself, and enjoyed a little quiet time alone. It was lovely.

#2: Read: I don't do nearly as much of this as I would like. I'm reading For One More Day by Mitch Albom (author of Tuesdays with Morrie) it's sweet and funny and sad. And I hope one day Hendrix will learn to appreciate me as much as Chick does his mom.

#3: Thrift shopping - Once Upon a Child and Love Child (McClintock & Warner) are my favorite kid thrift places. I bought sweet summer dresses for MilaBelle and cordaroy pants for H.

#4: Give advice about Vegetartianism - I love that Mike is a vegetartain and I am slowly following in his footsteps. I've been wanting to post this great recipe for tofuballs (toe-feet) balls as Mike calls them. I got the recipe from my friend Summer and make them every couple of weeks. They taste like cheese (which I love) but they have NO cheese in them.

Tofu Meat-less Balls

Combine:

Extra Firm Tofu that has been cut and dried

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup parsley (less if dry)

3 Tbls soy sauce

1 Tbl onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 1/2 Tbl peanut butter (this makes it stick together)

Roll into small balls and roll in flour before cooking in

2 Tbl heated cooking oil - cook until crispy on the outside.

Serve with favorite pasta and sauce.

#5: and now because I am a old woman I am going to bed at 7:30pm. I've been running on steam for the last couple of days and am super excited to SLEEP!!!

BRITT STATS: 32/30-10-2-1-Infinite

We have rejoined the 21st century and now have internet working at our house again. Yah!

So the first thing I do is Blog of course. I thought I'd start by laying out THE BRITT statistics as of yet. August 2009 Mike turned 32 and is officially an adult.

Leah turned 30 on March 2nd 2010. We had a great party with Yellow Submarine Sandwhiches, RockBand and the Best Cake Ever! Mike surprised me with a Beatles Fabulous cake made by April http://designercakesbyapril.blogspot.com/,

with images of my favorite albums, Revolver and Abbey Road. It tasted awesome too.

10 - On February 25th 2010 Mike and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. We had dinner at Caffe Boa where we had our first date 11and 1/2 years ago, we're planning a trip to Disneyland (without the kids) but most importantly we spent our anniversary evening at the Mesa Temple doing sealings. It was wonderful to remember the convenats we made to one another and to God. I know it was where we were supposed to be.

2 - kids that make our lives hectic and absolutely amazing.

1 - Temple Marriage that has helped get us through everything. I know we were married in the right place and the right time to the right person and that has made all the difference.

An Infinite amount of love within our family.

An Infinite Amount of Hope in the Future, Faith in our God and Trust in The Plan.